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Angels And Demons (Film)
Rating: M
Running Time: 138
Country: USA
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, Ayelet Zura
Distributor: Sony
Release Date: May 14, 2009
Film Worth: $10.00
FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth“…a well constructed, entertaining thriller.”
Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code - adapted from Dan Brown's literary phenomenon - was a sluggish, turgid, pretentious mess, with little going for it except its impressive performances and the large amount of hype that greeted its release. Now, here comes the sequel and, in one of the biggest turnarounds in cinema history, Angels & Demons is, well, pretty good. Perhaps responding to the criticisms levelled at the original film (or because the source novel itself is actually better), Howard delivers a much tighter, far more cohesive film that succeeds on all the levels that its predecessor so miserably failed.
After almost single-handedly undermining the beliefs and basis of The Catholic Church in The Da Vinci Code, Tom Hanks' symbologist Robert Langdon is ironically called upon by The Church when The Vatican finds itself at the centre of a terrorist threat. After the death of The Pope, a number of Cardinals are kidnapped and a mysterious, potentially explosive anti-matter substance is stolen from a high-tech laboratory. With the help of scientist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer...does anyone else think she looks a bit like sexy UK chef Nigella Lawson?), Langdon pieces together the possibility that The Illuminati - an ancient sect of The Church expelled for their science-meets-faith standing - might have risen with an eye to destroying The Vatican. Stonewalled by security man Commander Richter (Stellan Skarsgard) and aided by Camerlengo Patrick McKenna (Ewan McGregor), The Pope's right hand man, Langdon finds himself in the middle of a major conspiracy, while racing against the clock to prevent a disaster of, ahem, Biblical proportions.
Though once again overdoing it with the excessively shadowy cinematography (it looks like someone hasn't paid their electricity bill), Ron Howard excels with what he's called a "ticking bomb thriller". The ridiculous religious carry-on of The Da Vinci Code is replaced with a considerably more plausible plot, which works more to a race-against-the-clock rhythm than a following-the-clues one. This gives Angels & Demons an enjoyable push and sense of drive - you're on the ride with the film's characters and keen to see where they'll be taken next. There are exciting twists and turns, a couple of neat shocks and surprises, and a host of interesting new characters (McGregor is a standout), while engaging everyman Tom Hanks holds it all together with his usual charm and integrity. It's a miracle! Angels & Demons is actually a well constructed, entertaining thriller.
